Control instrument



May 22, 1945. N. l. COCKLEY CONTROL INSTRUMENT Filed Nov. 15, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.|.

INVENTOR.

EEL l. COCKLEY ay 1945- N. 1. COCKLEY 2,376,573

CONTROL INSTRUMENT Filed Nov. 15, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIGS.

INVENTOR.

NEEL l. COCKLEY Patented May 22,- 1945 2,376,573

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL INSTRUMENT Neel I. Cockley, Chesney Downs, Pa., assignor to The Brown Instrument Company, P'hfladeb phia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 13, 1941, Serial No. 419,011

2 Claims. (Cl. 236-46) The present invention relates to an automatic or with the necessity of mounting the close control system, and more particularly to a conto h r. trol system in which a time cycle device is used It is a further obJect of the invention to proto adjust a variable condition such as tempera- Vide e cycle control System 111 Whlch P ture, pressure, liquid level or the like in accorda m or signal y be at d t some P ance with a predetermined schedule. during the i It is often necessary in processing various The invehtloh W111 be desclflbed herem, by Way articles to bring them, by way of example, up f example y, s chntlolllng e temperature to a certain temperature at a predetermined rate, a furnace other heater- It W111 be recog hold this temperature for a period of time and i0 nized, however h h i Variable conditions then lower it at a given rate. Various means may be controlled m a Shhhal' mannerhave been provided to accomplish this result, one varihus features of which a of which is to use a characterized cam to vary actelflze i e ntion are pointed out with the control point f a control instrument particularity in the claims annexed to and formcording to the desired schedule. Such former 15 mg palft of this P P ti n- For a better undevices have been subject to various objections, dersta'hdmg of mvehhonv due most often to the complication that was vantages and spemfic obJects obtamed wlth its caused by the insertion'of the characterized cam reference should be had to the accompany into the same casing that houses theremainder mg drawings and descriptive matter in which of the control mechanism illustrated and described av preferred embodiment Generally the control cam is mounted on the g?i ggigg?g same shaft as the record chart, if one is used.

Since most charts are driven at one revolution 1 1sa'vlewofthevanousumtswhlch form the control system. per day the control cam must be driven at the same rate. This quite often results in a Dro- 5325 2: f gfgg of the camacmatfed hibitively steep rise on the cam if the condition being controlled must have its value changed at g 3 is a sectmn new taken on line 3 3 of a rapid rate.

'It is an object of the present invention to pro- 5 2 32; 2:2 2 g z i gggggg g vide a time cycle control system in which'a charcentral unit acterized control cam is used and in which the Referring first to Fig 1 there is shown a panel cam is driven independently of the record reboard upon which i is preferred to mount ceivihg chart This means that the a may be the various units of the control system. The driven at any Speed hecessary and thahthe Speed 5 control system includes a transmitting unit 2 and may be correlated with the contour of the cam a recording and control unit 3 which together to obtain any desired rate of condition change. Serve to control the temperature of a f rna A'further object of the invention is to provide or other heater 4 t is supplied with fuel a time cycle control system in which separate through a pipe 5 which f el is regulated by a casin s are used tohouse t rec r and 40 valve 6 that is located in the pipe. The artlol mechahlsm and house the control cam rangement is such that as the heater temperaand its drive mechanism with these two portions ture varies the control unit 3 tends to open or of the control system joined by means of a pneushut the valve 6 as necessary to maintain the matic transmitting system. The arrangement is temperature of t heater at some desired valu such that as the control cam is rotated it will;

The control point of the control unit or the value move a w r t a ts to s p an air presat which the temperature of the heater is to be sure proportional to the radius of the cam. This kept is changed in accordance with a predeair pressure is transmitted to a device in the retermined time-temperature schedule that has cording and control unit that serves to adjust been plotted on .a cam that is located in the the control point of the same. Such a system is transmitting unit 2.

flexible enough to take care of practically any Transmitting unit 2 which is shown in detail control schedule which it may be desired to have. in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 will first be described. This The use of a pneumatic connection between the unit along with the control unit is supplied with casings does away with the necessity of'rigidly air under a suitably regulated pressure through mounting one casing with respect to the other, a pipe I which is provided with a filter 8 and a electrically or spring operated.

pressure regulator 3. Located in the transmittingunit2isacam lbthatissoshapedasto produce a predetermined schedule in the control of the heater 4. This cam is driven at a constant speed by means of a clock II that can be either The clock is provided with a on its front end an abutment member l3. Mounted on the shaft l2 back of this member I3 is a collar N that is pressed into frictional engagement with the abutment by means of. a spring I5. The rear end of the spring bears ain t a washer l5 that is also rotatable on the shaft and which abuts against the end of a bearing for the shaft. A cam supporting member I! is attached by means of a set screw It to the collar |4 so that it will rotate with the same as the clock shaft is driven. This cam support is provided with a drive pin |3 that is adapted to extend through a hole in the cam I when the cam is placed upon the protruding portion of the support H. The front end of this protruding portion upon which the cam I0 is mounted is provided with screw threads adapted to receive a knurled thumb-nut 20. The thumbnut is tightly screwed against the front of the cam to hold this cam in position on its suDDQrt. The front of the projection on the support I1 is provided with a kerf 2| in which a screw driver may be inserted to rotate. the support l1 and collar 4 relative to the drive shaft l2. This is possible since the spring l5 provides a frictional engagement between the collar l4 and the abutshaft 12 that has ment l3. This provision is of importance since it permits the cam It to be rotated relative to its drive shaft to the proper starting position and also permits the cum to be rotated relative to the shaft if it is desired to speed up the control cycle.

A cam follower 22 that is provided with flanges 23 on each end so that it is the shape of a spool is adapted to bear on the surface of the cam l0 and to follow its contour. This follower is mounted on a supporting arm 24 that is in turn fastened to a shaft 25 by means of a set screw 25. This supporting shaft is mounted insultable bearings that are provided in a bracket 21 which is attached to the casing of the unit 2.

The cam follower is biased by gravity and a spring 28 into engagement with the edge of the cam so that it will always bear against the same. Movement of the cam follower 22 and its supporting arm 24 are transferred to a pneumatic transmitting unit 29 by means of an arm 3|! that is attached to the shaft 25 and a connecting link 3|. This link is fastened at its lower end to one arm of a lever 32 the other arm of which is provided with a pin 33. The lever 32 is pivoted at 34 to an L shaped lever 35 which is in turn pivoted at a point that is directly underneath the pin 33 in the position of the parts as they are shown in Fig. 2. As the lever 32 is moved the pin 33 will move a flapper 35 around its pivot 31. This flapper is normally biased by gravity or a spring in a clockwise direction against a nozzle 38 which along with the lever arrangement just described. is mounted on a support 39. This support also has attached to it a casing 40, which along with. a bellows 4|, forms an expansible chamber. Located inside the bellows is a spring 42 which tends to expand this-bellows against an air pressure which is applied within the chamber. Movement of the bellows is imparted, by means of a rod 43. to the L shaped lever 35 which lever serves to move .the pivot point 34.

The rod 43 is attached to the lever 35 by means of an adjustable connection 44.

A nozzle 38 and the casing 40 are connected respectively by means of pipes 45 and 45 to a pilot valve 41 that is located in the lower left hand corner of the casing unit 2. This pilot valve is disclosed in detail in Fig. 4 and is supplied with air through the supply pipe I. Air from the pipe I passes through a secondary filter 48 and a restriction 49 to the pipe 45. Air is also supplied by the same pipe to a nozzle 55 that opens into a chamber 5| of the pilot valve.

Air may be exhausted from the chamber 5| through an exhaust nozzle 52 that is supported at its upper end by means of bellows 53 and 54. The pressure in the chamber 5| is directly controlled by means of a valve 55 that is pivoted at 55 to the pilot valve casing. The chamber 5| is connected to the pipe 45 which communicates with the casing 40, and is also in communication with a pipe 51 that supplies air under the same pressure to a control point adjusting unit in the unit 3.

As the radius of the cam l0 varies with respect to the position of'the roller 22 the flapper valve 35 is moved closer to or further away from the nozzle 35 thus permitting more or less air to escape through this nozzle and thereby vary the pressure in the pipe 45 and a chamber 58 that forms part of the pilot valve and which has one wall formed of bellows 53. Therefore, as the pressure in this chamber varies the bellows 53 will expand or collapse and acting through the movable nozzle '52 'will move the valve 55. If, for example, the pressure in chamber '58 is reduced due to movement of the flapper 35 away from the nozzle 38 the bellows 53 and 54 will elongate to lift the nozzle 52 away from the valve 55. Air can, therefore, escape from the chamber 5| through this nozzle and the interbellows space to the atmosphere. As a result of the reduced pressure in the chamber 5| and pipe 45 the pressure within casing 40 will be reduced, permitting the bellows 4| to elongate under the action of spring 42. As this occurs the lever 35 will turn in a clociswise direction around its pivot to shift the pivot point 34 of lever 32 in a direction to permit the flapper to be moved toward the nozzle 38, thereby giving a follow-up action. In this manner some given pressure is supplied in the casing 40, pipe 45 and pipe 51 for each position of the roller 22. It is noted that if the flapper 36 had originally been moved toward the nozzle 38 the pressure in chamber 53 would have been increased to collapse the bellows 53 and 54 thereby moving nozzle 52 downwardly. This nozzle would then move against the valve 55 and prevent further exhaust therefrom and would simultaneously shift the valve in a clockwise direction against its bias to open nozzle 50 and permit an increase in pressure in the chamber 5| with air that is- The pressure changes in the pipe 51 are transferred to the unit 3 and are there used to change the control point of that instrument. To this end the pressure changes are applied to a cham-' her that is formed between the casing member 53 and bellows 60 which are attached to a. support 6| that is mounted in the back of the casing of .journalled in the support 6I.. The arm 64 is attached to the shaft 65 as is a secondary arm 66 so that these three members move as a unit. A member 88 which, in effect, forms an extension of the arm 66 is pivoted at 89 to that arm and is maintained against a bent over edge 61 of the arm 66 by means of a spring 10. As the arms 66 and 68 are moved around the shaft 65 as an axis.

a link II, that is attached at its lower end to the member 58, imparts the movement of this member to a second member I2 that is pivoted on a shaft 13 in the upper part of the casing. This member 12 has an arm 14 that extends from it for a purpose that will be described later, and also has an index member 15 extending from it. The position of this index is an indication of the value at which the instrument will tend to maintain a condition under its control. Stop members 16 and I! are pivoted on shaft 13 and may be fastened in various adjusted position with respect to this shaft. These stop members serve to coop-nerate with a projection 18 on the member 12 to limit the end positions of this member and, therefore, to limit the maximum and minimumvalues at which the condition can be maintained. If, for example, something went wrong with this system and the pressure-in line 51 dropped to zero the arm 'I'I would be engaged by the projection '18 to limit the clockwise movement of this projection and, therefore, limit the minimum value to the condition will fall. In a like fashion, if somethingsho'uld go wrong and the pressure in the line 51 increased to a dangerous point the projection 18 would hit against the arm I6 and be limited in its counterclockwise movement. When the pressure falls to a minimum as abovedescribed, the bellows would merely expand and a socket formed on its end'wall would move away from the lower end ofthe rod 63. When the pressure increased, as above described, the bellows would collapse moving arm 64 and 66 in a counterclockwise direction. When projection I8 engages arm 16 the spring I0 will give and permit relative movement between parts 66 and-68. ,In

this way over-travel of the bellows 60 will not tend to strain the various parts of the instrument.

The temperature of the heater 4 is measured arm 84 and shaft 85 will be moved in a counterclockwise direction andwill move with them a pen arm 86, which arm'has a pen on its lower end that draws a record on a chart 81. Also attached to the shaft 85 is a second arm 88 that is connected by a link 89 to one end of a differential lever 90. The other end of this lever is attached to the outer end of arm 14. The arrangement is such that when either arm 18 or arm 88 is moved the lever 90 will be moved around one of its ends. This serves to raise and lower a connecting link 9| that actuates an air control instrument which may be of the type disclosed in Patent 2,125,081, which was issued to Coleman B. Moore on July 26, 1938. This air control instrument is of a well known type that is in extensive commercial use and combines with it a pilot valve 93 which is similar to therpilot valve 41 above described. As the link 9| is moved up and down in response to either changes in the temperature as measured by the Bourdon tube 8| or in response to changes in the control point setting of the instrument as measured by the position of lever I4 the air control instrument 92 acting in conjunction with the pilot valve 93 will change the pressure in a line 95 to vary the opening of valve 6 in pipe5. the valve is opened or closed in response to a change of either the control point position index or variations in the temperature of the heater.

Both the unit 2 and the unit 3 are preferably provided with doors which are shown at 96 in Figure 3 and at 81A in Figure 5. These doors are each provided'with a glass window through which the'cam and the recording chart. respectively, maybe seen. In order that the cam I0 may be adjusted relative to the drive shaft I2 without the necessity of opening the door 96 of unit 2 an opening I04 is provided in the window of that door which is coaxial with the support II. A

screw driver or similar tool may be projected through this opening into the kerf 2I to adjust the cam. In order that the opening I04 may normally be kept closed va short flanged sleeve I05 is inserted in the opening" and held in place by a nut I06 that is threaded over the sleeve into engagement with the outer surface of the glass. A cap I0! is then used to close the end of the sleeve. It is noted that the index 15 cooperates with the chart 8'! to indicatethereon the value at which the condition is being maintained.

Sometimes it maybe desirable to have an indication when the value of the condition of the heater 4 has reached some predetermined point or where the process has reached a predetermined state. Tothis end an arm 91 is attached to the shaft 25 for movement with the shaft as the cam l0 rotates. This arm is used to engage the leit end of a switch operating member 38 that is pivoted at 99 to move this member agaitrt the bias of aspring I00. The support is normally maintained in the position shown in which its position is limited by a stop IOI. Any suitable typeof switch such as a mercury switch I02 may be operated when arm 24 is moved counterclockwise enough to tilt the support 98. This switch may be used to light an indicating light I03 that is preferably mounted on the control panel I shown in Fig. 1. If it is desired the switch' I02 could be turned end for end in which case the light I03 would be on until the cam has reached a certain position when the tilting of the support 98 would cause the switch to open.

Sometimes it may also be desired to have an indication or an operation of some type performed a predetermined time after the cycle of the instrument has begun. To this end there is provided a switch. I08 that may be closed or opened, as the case may be, a predetermined time after the op eration is started. This switch is mounted on a support I09 that is pivoted at 0 and biased by spring III in a counterclockwise direction into engagement with a stop pin H2. The support In this manner is adapted to be tilted to actuate the switch by means of a cam H3 that is frictionally held on a shaft H4 in any suitable manner. Shaft H4 is driven at a constant speed through a train of gears H5 from the clock H. The cam H3 can be made to take any desired shape and can be so adjusted on the shaft H4 that a predetermined time after the cycle of the instrument is started this cam will tiltthe support I09 around its pivot I I0. The switch I08 will then be either closed or opened depending upon how it is mounted on this support to actuate any suitable signal or alarm or to actuate a relay to perform some desired operation.

As shown in Figure 2, the switch I02 is connected to the indicating light I03 and to a battery or other suitable source of power E20 by means of wires |2l and I22 so that when the switch is closed, the lamp will be energized. In a like manner, the switch I08 is connected with the source of power I20 and the signal light I03A by means of wires l2! and I23 so that when this switch is closed, lamp |03A will be energized.

The use of signals or alarms that can be D- erated both a predetermined time after the process has been started or when the condition has reached a predetermined value can be very useful inasmuch as they can be used to perform any operation connected with the cycle of the instru ment or can be used to warn an operator that the condition has reached a predetermined value or that the proces has been under treatment for a predetermined time.

The operation ofthe control system would be apparent from the above description. Howevena resume will now be given. As the cam I0 rotates it will act on the lever arm 24 and, through the unit 29, will serve to vary the air pressure in pipe 51 in accordance with the contour cam. This air pressure is applied through the pipe to cause a change in length of bellows 50 where it is used to actuate a lever system and move the control index 15. As this movement occurs the right end of the differential lever 90 will be raised or lowered to change the control point of the air control instrument 2. Therefore, the instrument will change the temperature at which it is maintaining the heater 4 by varying the opening of the valve 6 and, therefore, adjusting the amount of the condition changing fluid which can flow through the pipe 5.

In most recording instruments the chart 0! is run at a speed of one revolution in 24 hours. This is almost standard since it is desirable to keep a day by day record of'the'functioning of the apparatus being controlled. The cycle through which the heater 4 is being controlled may only last a fraction of this time, however, so that several cycles will be produced over a 24 hour period. In such case it is generally desirable to have the cam make one complete revolution for each heating cycle. To this end the clock ll runs the cam l0 at a speed of only one revolution for each of the cycles to which the heater 4 is subjected. Assume, for example, that each cycle takes an hour and one-half. As shown herein the clock is so designed that it will have one rotation every two hours. Also as shown, the cam l0 and the roller 22 are positioned as they would be at the start of a cycle. As the cam rotates in a clockwise direction the arm 24 will be moved outwardly to gradually raise the pressure in the system and, therefore, raise the control certain rate for a certain length of time and then is brought back to a zero position at the end of an hour and one-half. The last fifteen minutes of rotation of the cam which is indicated by the concentric portion ab will have no effeet on the arm 24, and the latter will remain in its zero position. This 15 minutes may be used to clean out the heater and to insert a new batch of what is being heated. At that time the rotation of the cam will be completed. It may be preferred to rotate the cam once every hour and a half, then stop it while the batch in the heater is being changed, instead of having the fifteen minute waiting interval formed on the cam. It

will be obvious that the speed at which the cam is driven may be changed in accordance with the cycle through which the heater is being put. If, for example, the cycle should take place in six hours the cam may be rotated every six hours, or the cam may be rotated in twelve hours and have two six hour cycles cut on it. It is a highly desirable feature of the system that the chart is rotated at one speed while the cam can be rotated at another speed which speed can be made to suit a cycle of treatment to which the heater will be subjected. Being able to change the speed at which the cam is rotated in any conventional manner to correspond to the time of the cycle permits the slope of the cam to be so formed that no undul steep rise will'be used and so there will be no danger of the roller 22 binding on the cam as the latter is rotated.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes, I have illustrated and described the best form of this invention now known to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the form of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of this invention as set forth in the appended claims, and that in some cases certain features of this invention may sometimesbe used to advantage without a corresponding use of other features.

Having now described this invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A pneumatic transmitting instrument for transmitting a pressure in accordance with a predetermined time-condition schedule, comprisin in combination, a time operated cam shaped along its time component in accordance with de sired values of a condition to produce a predetermined time-condition schedule, means to move said cam, a cam follower moved to positions depending upon the contour and position of said cam, valve means for establishing a pressure to be transmitted, means for connecting the cam follower and the valve means for maintaining the pressure at' a value corresponding solely to the position of the cam follower and hence solely in accordance with the time-condition schedule, a switch, a signal means operated thereby, and operating means for said switch solely actuated by said cam follower to operate the sig nal means when the pressure established by the valve means reaches a predetermined value.

2. A pneumatic transmitting instrument for transmitting a pressure in accordance with a predetermined time-condition schedule, comprising in combination, a time operated cam shaped along its time coponent in accordance with desired values of a condition to produce a predetermined time-condition schedule, means to'move said cam, a cam follower moved to positions depoint or the instrument 3. This is raised at a I. pending upon the contour and position or said means being operated by said cam moving means at a predetermined point in the rotation of said cam, and means solely operated by said cam folv lower to actuate the other signal means when the pressure established 'by the valve means reaches a predetermined value.

NEEL I. COCKLEY. 

